Cameras, and other image capturing devices, have been used by individuals to record visual images for many years. Earlier cameras used film in which an image was captured on a negative and, once captured, used to create visual images which portrayed the original photographed scene. More recently, digital cameras have become available and their popularity has increased over the last couple of years. Digital cameras typically record captured images as bitmap images in a storage device such as a 3½ inch disk or similar storage media. These stored images may be processed or modified by a computer user and may be printed out and used accordingly. While original digital cameras include basic functionality, today's digital cameras include numerous features and in some instances include features which cannot be included with film-based cameras. For instance, storage techniques have evolved in such a way that digital cameras may store hundreds of low resolution images. Additionally, digital camera users may select the resolution desired for images being captured. The digital camera user may select images to be recorded in low, medium, or high resolution modes. As the resolution of the captured image increases, the amount of memory dedicated to storing the image also increases. Digital photography also allows modifications of captured digital images heretofore unavailable in conventional film photography.
Some types of digital cameras include built in orientation sensors. An orientation sensor is used to determine if the user has the camera in regular landscape mode or if the camera has been rotated to take a picture in the portrait mode. The inclusion of the orientation sensor allows the images to be displayed on a liquid crystal display in the correct orientation. One type of orientation sensor includes a metallic ball resident within a small enclosure. When the camera is positioned in a landscape orientation, the ball rests on the bottom of the small enclosure and allows a contact to be made between two pins positioned at the bottom of the chamber. This electrical contact between the two pins enables the software resident within the camera to determine that the camera is positioned in landscape mode. Similarly, if the camera is positioned in a portrait mode, the metallic ball causes an electrical connection to occur between two separate pins allowing the software to correctly determine that the camera is in the portrait mode. This type of orientation sensor allows a differentiation between landscape mode and portrait mode.
Conventional film cameras also have incorporated leveling devices to provide an indication when the film plane is perpendicular to the ground and level. A bubble type “spirit” level may be attached to an architectural view camera to provide for leveling of the camera body so as to insure that it is parallel to a structure to be photographed and level with respect to the horizontal.
All of these prior art devices required manual orientation and positioning of a camera to achieve a desired effect.